TIP #1 - INCREASING FM COVERAGE

For example one of the most important considerations of your activity, for those that have FM broadcast stations, is to anticipate your coverage. Accordingly, I am attaching a chart which indicates the anticipated coverage for specific ERP's and at various elevations above average terrain. This information reflects the distance from your transmitter site to a 500 microvolts per meter field strength. We have found that this field strength is quite adequate to penetrate the walls of average buildings. If you have any questions about this chart, please do not hesitate to contact me. We will keep this chart in this file for future reference and as equivalent technical data of this complexity appears, I will include it in this presentation.


PREDICTED FM COVERAGE DATA

E.R.P

.01 kW .1 kW

.5 kW

1 kW

1.5 kW

3 kW

5 kW

10 kW 25 kW 50 kW 100 kW
H.A.A.T (in ft.) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles) coverage (in miles)
100 2.9 5.1 7.6 9.0 9.9 11.7 13.3 15.6 19.3 22.6 26.3
150 3.5 6.3 9.4 11.2 12.3 14.5 16.3 19.0 23.2 26.8 30.7
200 4.0 7.3 10.9 12.9 14.1 16.6 18.6 21.6 26.0 29.8 33.9
250 4.5 8.1 12.1 14.3 15.7 18.3 20.4 23.6 28.3 32.2 36.3
300 4.9 8.9 13.2 15.5 17.0 19.8 22.0 25.3 30.2 34.2 38.4
350 5.3 9.6 14.2 16.6 18.2 21.1 23.4 26.9 31.9 35.9 40.3
400 5.7 10.3 15.1 17.7 19.3 22.3 24.7 28.3 33.4 37.5 41.9
450 6.1 10.9 15.9 18.6 20.3 23.4 25.9 29.5 34.7 39.0 43.4
500 6.4 11.5 16.7 19.5 21.2 24.5 27.0 30.7 36.0 40.3 44.8
550 6.7 12.0 17.5 20.3 22.1 25.4 28.0 31.8 37.2 41.5 46.1
600 7.0 12.6 18.2 21.1 23.0 26.3 29.0 32.9 38.3 42.7 47.3
650 7.3 13.1 18.9 21.9 23.8 27.2 29.9 33.8 39.4 43.8 48.4
700 7.6 13.6 19.5 22.6 24.5 28.1 30.8 34.8 40.4 44.8 49.5
750 7.8 14.0 20.2 23.3 25.3 28.9 31.7 35.7 41.3 45.8 50.5
800 8.1 14.5 20.8 24.0 26.0 29.6 32.5 36.5 42.2 46.8 51.5
850 8.4 14.9 21.4 24.6 26.7 30.4 33.2 37.3 43.1 47.7 52.4
900 8.6 15.3 21.9 25.3 27.3 31.1 34.0 38.1 43.9 48.6 53.3
950 8.8 15.8 22.5 25.9 28.0 31.7 34.7 38.9 44.8 49.4 54.2
1000 9.1 16.2 23.0 26.4 28.6 32.4 35.4 39.6 45.5 50.2 55.0
1050 9.3 16.6 23.5 27.0 29.2 33.1 36.1 40.3 46.3 51.0 55.8
1100 9.5 16.9 24.0 27.6 29.7 33.7 36.7 41.0 47.0 51.7 56.6
1150 9.7 17.3 24.5 28.1 30.3 34.3 37.3 41.7 47.7 52.4 57.3
1200 9.9 17.7 25.0 28.6 30.9 34.9 38.0 42.3 48.4 53.1 58.1
1250 10.1 18.0 25.5 29.1 31.4 35.4 38.6 43.0 49.0 53.8 58.7
1300 10.3 18.4 25.9 29.6 31.9 36.0 39.1 43.6 49.7 54.5 59.4
1350 10.5 18.7 26.4 30.1 32.4 36.5 39.7 44.1 50.3 55.1 60.1
1400 10.7 19.0 26.8 30.6 32.9 37.0 40.2 44.7 50.9 55.7 60.7
1450 10.9 19.4 27.2 31.0 33.4 37.6 40.8 45.3 51.5 56.3 61.3
1500 11.0 19.7 27.6 31.5 33.8 38.1 41.3 45.8 52.0 56.9 61.9

NOTE: *H.A.A.T is the Height Above Average Terrain at center of radiation. **E.R.P. is Effective Radiated Power.

When reviewing this predicted FM coverage chart, you will notice that a difference in elevation has a much more substantial effect over the coverage than the actual ERP. In other words, raising the radiated power 2:1 might increase the range by approximately 3 to 5 miles, but doubling the elevation will give you possibly 33% increase in range.

Best of luck in your technical activities